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Still no agreement in Glencoe police’s racial profiling case
Updated: September 3, 2012 6:13AM
GLENCOE — An Evanston bicyclist who was has alleged racial discrimination after being fined last month for riding his bicycle through a Glencoe construction zone says he’s still not satisfied after meeting with Glencoe police.
The Rev. Michael James, an Evanston resident who was accompanied by the Illinois chapter of the NAACP during a July 25 meeting with Glencoe police, said soon afterward that police had not yet fully supplied them with police reports related to bicycle and traffic stops involving minorities in the village.
James continued rhetoric threatening a federal lawsuit in the matter.
George Mitchell of the Illinois NAACP, who also attended the meeting, however, said he was reviewing the information and asked for some supplemental reports. He expects the group will meet again to discuss the matter “in a few weeks.” No date had yet been set.
“We had a very respectful meeting,” Glencoe Chief of Public Safety Michael Volling said. “We take these matters very seriously.”
The discussions stem from a June 30 incident when a female Glencoe Public Safety officer wrote James a $25 ticket. Both sides agree the officer did not draw a gun or touch him.
James’ incident took place within the northerly part of Sheridan Road, under water-main construction for about several weeks. Traffic is restricted to northbound-only for cars, between downtown Glencoe to Lake-Cook Road, and closed to bicycles.
An Illinois Traffic Stop Study, available on the Internet, shows that African-Americans accounted for about 6 percent, 4 percent and 5 percent of total Glencoe traffic stops in 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively.
